Big Ten Realignment Greatly Benefits Ohio State Buckeyes

By Andy Schmidt

Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

There have been reports swirling in the last week about the Big Ten announcing realignment when they go to 14 teams. The team that seems to benefit the most from this realignment would be the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Ohio State will be in the East Division as the conference goes with simple East and West Divisions starting in 2014, and be in a division with a weakened Penn State program along with their archrival Michigan Wolverines. There is nothing that can really be done about that because it is the best way to set the divisions up anyway.

I feel that Ohio State has a real potential of turning the East Division into their own personal playground for a number of years when these changes happen, however. The conference is going to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016 as well, which means three crossover games against the West. Until then, the Buckeyes may just run the table each season. It may not seem fair on the surface but the job Urban Meyer is doing with Ohio State is going to lead to many undefeated or 11-1 seasons in the near future. This is bad news for the newest members of the conference who are going to find tough sledding with a game against Ohio State every year on their schedule.

The Big Ten is doing the right thing with this obviously, though. The fans in Columbus have to be licking their chops for the 2014 season to arrive, and what seems to be an easy ride to the East Division championship and a possible playoff berth.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.